PG::ConnectionBad - could not connect to server: C

Question

Everytime I run my rails 4.0 server, I get this output.

Started GET "/" for 127.0.0.1 at 2013-11-06 23:56:36 -0500

PG::ConnectionBad - could not connect to server: Connection refused
Is the server running on host "localhost" (::1) and accepting
TCP/IP connections on port 5432?
could not connect to server: Connection refused
Is the server running on host "localhost" (127.0.0.1) and accepting
TCP/IP connections on port 5432?
could not connect to server: Connection refused
Is the server running on host "localhost" (fe80::1) and accepting
TCP/IP connections on port 5432?
:
 activerecord (4.0.0) lib/active_record/connection_adapters/postgresql_adapter.rb:825:in `connect'
 activerecord (4.0.0) lib/active_record/connection_adapters/postgresql_adapter.rb:542:in `initialize'
 activerecord (4.0.0) lib/active_record/connection_adapters/postgresql_adapter.rb:41:in `postgresql_connection'
 activerecord (4.0.0) lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract/connection_pool.rb:440:in `new_connection'
 activerecord (4.0.0) lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract/connection_pool.rb:450:in `checkout_new_connection'
 activerecord (4.0.0) lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract/connection_pool.rb:421:in `acquire_connection'
 activerecord (4.0.0) lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract/connection_pool.rb:356:in `block in checkout'
 /System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.0/usr/lib/ruby/2.0.0/monitor.rb:211:in `mon_synchronize'
 activerecord (4.0.0) lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract/connection_pool.rb:355:in `checkout'
 activerecord (4.0.0) lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract/connection_pool.rb:265:in `block in connection'
 /System/Library/Frameworks/Ruby.framework/Versions/2.0/usr/lib/ruby/2.0.0/monitor.rb:211:in `mon_synchronize'
 activerecord (4.0.0) lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract/connection_pool.rb:264:in `connection'
 activerecord (4.0.0) lib/active_record/connection_adapters/abstract/connection_pool.rb:546:in `retrieve_connection'
 activerecord (4.0.0) lib/active_record/connection_handling.rb:79:in `retrieve_connection'
 activerecord (4.0.0) lib/active_record/connection_handling.rb:53:in `connection'
 activerecord (4.0.0) lib/active_record/migration.rb:792:in `current_version'
 activerecord (4.0.0) lib/active_record/migration.rb:800:in `needs_migration?'
 activerecord (4.0.0) lib/active_record/migration.rb:379:in `check_pending!'
 activerecord (4.0.0) lib/active_record/migration.rb:366:in `call'
 actionpack (4.0.0) lib/action_dispatch/middleware/callbacks.rb:29:in `block in call'
 activesupport (4.0.0) lib/active_support/callbacks.rb:373:in `_run__1613334440513032208__call__callbacks'
 activesupport (4.0.0) lib/active_support/callbacks.rb:80:in `run_callbacks'
 actionpack (4.0.0) lib/action_dispatch/middleware/callbacks.rb:27:in `call'
 actionpack (4.0.0) lib/action_dispatch/middleware/reloader.rb:64:in `call'
 actionpack (4.0.0) lib/action_dispatch/middleware/remote_ip.rb:76:in `call'
 better_errors (0.9.0) lib/better_errors/middleware.rb:84:in `protected_app_call'
 better_errors (0.9.0) lib/better_errors/middleware.rb:79:in `better_errors_call'
 better_errors (0.9.0) lib/better_errors/middleware.rb:56:in `call'
 actionpack (4.0.0) lib/action_dispatch/middleware/debug_exceptions.rb:17:in `call'
 actionpack (4.0.0) lib/action_dispatch/middleware/show_exceptions.rb:30:in `call'
 railties (4.0.0) lib/rails/rack/logger.rb:38:in `call_app'
 railties (4.0.0) lib/rails/rack/logger.rb:21:in `block in call'
 activesupport (4.0.0) lib/active_support/tagged_logging.rb:67:in `block in tagged'
 activesupport (4.0.0) lib/active_support/tagged_logging.rb:25:in `tagged'
 activesupport (4.0.0) lib/active_support/tagged_logging.rb:67:in `tagged'
 railties (4.0.0) lib/rails/rack/logger.rb:21:in `call'
 quiet_assets (1.0.2) lib/quiet_assets.rb:18:in `call_with_quiet_assets'
 actionpack (4.0.0) lib/action_dispatch/middleware/request_id.rb:21:in `call'
 rack (1.5.2) lib/rack/methodoverride.rb:21:in `call'
 rack (1.5.2) lib/rack/runtime.rb:17:in `call'
 activesupport (4.0.0) lib/active_support/cache/strategy/local_cache.rb:83:in `call'
 rack (1.5.2) lib/rack/lock.rb:17:in `call'
 actionpack (4.0.0) lib/action_dispatch/middleware/static.rb:64:in `call'
 railties (4.0.0) lib/rails/engine.rb:511:in `call'
 railties (4.0.0) lib/rails/application.rb:97:in `call'
 rack (1.5.2) lib/rack/content_length.rb:14:in `call'
 thin (1.5.1) lib/thin/connection.rb:81:in `block in pre_process'
 thin (1.5.1) lib/thin/connection.rb:79:in `pre_process'
 thin (1.5.1) lib/thin/connection.rb:54:in `process'
 thin (1.5.1) lib/thin/connection.rb:39:in `receive_data'
 eventmachine (1.0.3) lib/eventmachine.rb:187:in `run'
 thin (1.5.1) lib/thin/backends/base.rb:63:in `start'
 thin (1.5.1) lib/thin/server.rb:159:in `start'
 rack (1.5.2) lib/rack/handler/thin.rb:16:in `run'
 rack (1.5.2) lib/rack/server.rb:264:in `start'
 railties (4.0.0) lib/rails/commands/server.rb:84:in `start'
 railties (4.0.0) lib/rails/commands.rb:78:in `block in <top (required)>'
 railties (4.0.0) lib/rails/commands.rb:73:in `<top (required)>'
 bin/rails:4:in `<main>'

I'm running Mavericks OS X 10.9 so I don't know if that's the problem. I've tried everything I could but nothing seems to work. I've uninstalled and install both postgres and the pg gem multiple times now.

This is my database.yml file

development:
  adapter: postgresql
  encoding: unicode
  database: metals-directory_development
  pool: 5
  username: 
  password: 
  template: template0
  host: localhost
  port: 5432

test: &test
  adapter: postgresql
  encoding: unicode
  database: metals-directory_test
  pool: 5
  username: 
  password: 
  template: template0
  host: localhost
  port: 5432

staging:
  adapter: postgresql
  encoding: unicode
  database: metals-directory_production
  pool: 5
  username:
  password:
  template: template0
  host: localhost

production:
  adapter: postgresql
  encoding: unicode
  database: metals-directory_production
  pool: 5
  username:
  password:
  template: template0
  host: localhost

cucumber:
  <<: *test

Can anyone help me?

Answer 1

I just had this problem and none of the suggested solutions worked for me. After a lot of googling, I did find a solution. This is what worked for me.

First, I had to run this command to start the server and I am guessing set the location of config file.

pg_ctl -D /usr/local/var/postgres start && brew services start postgresql

Then I ran this command to access postgres

psql postgres

And at the postgres prompt then I typed "\du" to list the roles

postgres=# \du

The postgres role was missing so I had to create it with this command

CREATE ROLE POSTGRES WITH SUPERUSER CREATEDB CREATEUSER CREATEROLE REPLICATION BYPASSRLS ;

That solved my problem and I hope this helps someone else.

Answer 2

After a lot of searching and analysis, I found a solution if you are using ubuntu just write this command in your terminal and hit enter

sudo service postgresql restart

This will restart your PostgreSQL, hope this would behelp for you.

Answer 3

As described by @Magne, the error PG::ConnectionBad - could not connect to server: Connection refused can be presented following a major/minor version upgrade (e.g. 9.5 -> 9.6 or 9 -> 10) of PostgreSQL.

I got this error after having run brew upgrade postgresql after the release of PostgreSQL version 9.6. The problem is that major/minor version upgrades require additional steps to migrate old date to the new version.

How to check if this is your problem

You can check if this is the problem by checking the the latest brew formula PostgreSQL version installed with homebrew...

$ brew info postgresql

/usr/local/Cellar/postgresql/9.5.4_1 (3,147 files, 35M)
Poured from bottle on 2016-10-14 at 13:33:28
/usr/local/Cellar/postgresql/9.6.1 (3,242 files, 36.4M) *
Poured from bottle on 2017-02-06 at 12:41:00

...and then comparing it to the current PG_VERSION

$ cat /usr/local/var/postgres/PG_VERSION
9.5

If the PG_VERSION is less than the latest brew formula and the difference is a major/minor version change, then this is probably your problem.

How to fix (i.e. how to upgrade the data)

Instructions below are for an upgrade from 9.5 to 9.6. Change the version numbers as appropriate for your own upgrade

Step 1. Make sure PostgreSQL is switched off:

$ launchctl unload ~/Library/LaunchAgents/homebrew.mxcl.postgresql.plist
# or, with Homebrew...
$ brew services stop postgresql

Step 2. Make a new pristine database:

$ initdb /usr/local/var/postgres9.6 -E utf8

Step 3. Check what the old and new binary versions are:

$ ls /usr/local/Cellar/postgresql/
9.5.3   9.5.4   9.6.1

Note that in this example I am upgrading from 9.5.4 binary to 9.6.1 binary

Step 4. Migrate the current data to the new database using the pg_upgrade utility.

$ pg_upgrade \
  -d /usr/local/var/postgres \
  -D /usr/local/var/postgres9.6 \
  -b /usr/local/Cellar/postgresql/9.5.4/bin/ \
  -B /usr/local/Cellar/postgresql/9.6.1/bin/ \
  -v

• -d flag specifies the current data directory
• -D flag specifies the new data directory to be created
• -b specifies the old binary
• -B specifies the new binary we're upgrading to

Step 5. Move the old data directory out of the way

$ mv /usr/local/var/postgres /usr/local/var/postgres9.5

Step 6. Move newly created data directory to where PostgreSQL expects it to be

$ mv /usr/local/var/postgres9.6 /usr/local/var/postgres

Step 7. Start PostgreSQL again

$ launchctl load ~/Library/LaunchAgents/homebrew.mxcl.postgresql.plist
# or, if you're running a current version of Homebrew
$ brew services start postgresql

Step 8. If you’re using the pg gem for Rails, you should recompile by uninstalling and reinstalling the gem (skip this step if you're not using the pg gem)

$ gem uninstall pg
$ gem install pg

Step 9.(optional) After you've reassured yourself that everything is working OK, you can run regain some disk space with the following command:

brew cleanup postgresql

...and if you're feeling really brave you can delete the old PostgreSQL data directory with the following command

rm -rf /usr/local/var/postgres9.5/

(This answer is based on an excellent blog post https://keita.blog/2016/01/09/homebrew-and-postgresql-9-5/ with some additions)

Answer 4

Locate your postgres file it could be in /usr/local/var/postgres/ or in /usr/var/postgres/ and then delete the postmaster.pid file present in that folder.

Answer 5

I ran into this error after following a brew upgrade in which postgresql was updated. I found exactly how to fix my problem from this great post. I was able to get postgres back up and running and even migrated over all my existing databases. https://coderwall.com/p/ti4amw/how-to-launch-postgresql-after-upgrade

Answer 6

I know this is late but might help somebody. I was having the same issue. Turns out that I'd two versions of postgres 9.1 and 9.5. I uninstalled 9.1 and 9.5 and installed 9.5 again and it worked for me.